Umno may field Isham for ‘near-impossible’ fight in PKR seat

 

Isham Jalil was appointed to the Umno Supreme Council this year after Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was removed.

PETALING JAYA: Selangor Umno is planning to nominate Supreme Council member Isham Jalil to stand in a “PKR stronghold” in Selangor, says a party insider.

The source did not name the seat but said it had been a PKR stronghold since 2008 “and is considered ‘virtually impossible’ to win”.

At the 2008 general election, PKR had won in Hulu Selangor, Selayang, Gombak, Ampang, Subang, Petaling Jaya Selatan, Kelana Jaya, Kapar, and Kuala Langat. In 2018, the party won in two other seats, Pandan, and Sungai Buloh.

Gombak was held by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali who moved to Bersatu in 2020; Ampang by former PKR women’s leader Zuraida Kamaruddin, who moved to Bersatu in 2020 and has since become president of Parti Bangsa Malaysia; Pandan was won by Rafizi Ramli, now PKR deputy president, in 2013, and by PKR adviser Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in 2018; Kuala Langat was won by Dr Xavier Jayakumar in 2013 and 2018. Xavier has since joined PBM.

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In 2018, Barisan Nasional won only two seats: Tanjong Karang (Noh Omar) and Sabak Bernam (Fasiah Fakeh).

Yesterday, the party’s deputy president Mohamad Hasan said all state Umno liaison committees have submitted their list of prospective candidates for the general election.

However, not all those listed would be selected as election candidates.

“This is the first round, we acknowledge the nominated list. The headquarters will evaluate the candidates and not only the people listed will be evaluated,” said Mohamad, better known as Tok Mat.

“For the party, victory is our top priority. If the candidate can deliver us a win, we will let them represent the party,” he said.

Isham was appointed to the party’s top leadership in June after Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, then ambassador-designate to Indonesia, was removed from the council.

His appointment came three weeks after he was axed as Selangor BN information chief. Selangor BN stated that the position of state information chief was not provided for in the coalition’s constitution. - FMT